"The space of sky above us was the color of ever-changing violet and towards it the lamps of the street lifted their feeble lanterns." Descriptions like theses are important to help authors develop the setting. The use of light and dark to develop setting is seen in the short story by James Joyce "Araby". The significance of the setting in this story is shown by the constant referral to light and dark to allow the reader insight into the characters whole world. This essay will make reference to specific examples of how light and dark is used show the reader about the characters physical environment, social climate and general mood.
Joyce wants us to look at the characters physical environment and think of it as a cold harsh place. A quiet area void of the regular neighbourhood cares. This is evident by Joyce in his constant reference to dark to describe the characters environment. We see examples of this in the story, " dark muddy lanes-, " dark dripping gardens- and " dark odorous stables- Joyce also does this to draw attention to the light that comes from the houses as the light that comes from his loves house is so important. Joyce shows this when he writes, " her figure defined by the light from the half-opened door." The use of light to define the figure reveals her importance to the setting and the story. The story also takes place in the winter which causes the darkness to fall very early each day and naturally cooler. We are led to believe that it is a poor section of town by the characters description of his house "The high cold empty gloomy rooms- and "Through one of the broken panes- Joyce wanted us to see the dark side of the story so that the "light" (his friends" sister) would become easily recognizable. .
The social climate of the story was shown by Joyce in a couple of different circumstances. With reference of the cold dark environment in which he lived, we also see some of the darker side of living in a lower class section of town.